CITY & COUNTY
News from Austin, Dripping Springs, Hays & Travis County
Austin City Council will meet May 2 and 16 at 9 a.m. and May 4 and 18 at 10 a.m. 301 W. Second St., Austin www.austintexas.gov/ austin-city-council Travis County Commissioners Court will meet May 2, 4, 9, 16, 18 and 23 at 9 a.m. 700 Lavaca St., Austin www.traviscountytx.gov/ commissioners-court Dripping Springs City Council will meet May 2 and 16 at 6 p.m. 511 Mercer St., Dripping Springs www.cityofdrippingsprings.com/ city-council MEETINGS WE COVER HIGHLIGHTS TRAVIS COUNTY Commissioners are eyeing a second salary increase for correction o cers as the department is down about a third of its sta with more than 260 vacancies. The county’s corrections department has seen a 129% increase in vacancies since March 2022. The potential pay increase is still undecided with more discussion expected to come this spring. AUSTIN The city is recruiting East Austin residents to link their neighbors with resources to help them stay in their homes. The new displacement prevention program will bring on 15 Colony Park and Dove Springs residents for part-time work sharing city housing support services. After a one-year pilot, the program could be extended and expanded. DRIPPING SPRINGS The Texas Housing Foundation, a regional housing authority that develops, manages and provides services to a ordable housing projects in Texas, will bring multifamily housing options to lower-income city residents. City Council adopted a resolution declaring a need for a regional housing authority and entered into an agreement with the THF on April 4.
City seeks to add new wastewater pond
POND PROJECT A new wastewater facility will be constructed in the city. Wastewater treatment plant New pond
BY ELLE BENT
property. The city aims to use bene cial reuse—repurposing treated wastewa- ter for irrigation—and avoid discharg- ing treated wastewater into creeks, deputy city administrator Ginger Faught said. A new pond would add to the city’s bene cial reuse facilities, supplementing an existing 12-mil- lion-gallon pond in Caliterra. The city received a permit allowing for the release and reuse of wastewa- ter in December after the issue was tied up in court for years.
DRIPPING SPRINGS The city is moving to build a 15-million-gallon treated e uent pond just south of its existing wastewater treatment plant thanks to a deal with landowner Cuncasha LLC. Based on a wastewater facilities agreement approved April 4, Cunca- sha will give up land and easements for the pond and construction work. The city will convey the same amount of land and provide $10,000 for the relocation of a gate on the
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SOURCE: CITY OF DRIPPING SPRINGS COMMUNITY IMPACT
BY KATY MCAFEE TRAVIS COUNTY Commissioners unanimously voted for a third-party performance audit of Central Health, the county’s hospital district for low-income residents, on April 4. Mazars USA will begin the audit in May, compile a draft report by November and present the nal report next January at a cost of $845,200. The audit will assess Central Health’s work on meeting the needs of the county’s poor population, its nancial accountability, its public transparency and record-keeping; and its legal compliance. Central Health CEO Mike Geeslin voiced concern regarding the audit’s price tag, saying the district only budgeted up to $350,000 for an audit. Ted Burton, Central Health’s vice president of communications, said it is unclear if the audit will a ect property owners within the Central Health taxing district. Burton also said Central Health undergoes annual nancial audits that have come out clean since 2005. The third-party audit comes after local activists, attorneys and community groups called for increased scrutiny of Central Health and alleged the hospital district lacked nancial and operational transparency. Central Health audit on tap
ENERGY UNDERGROUND Much of Austin’s power grid is already located below ground, and city o cials are interested in burying more lines going forward to improve resiliency.
5,000 MILES of lines are above ground
7,000 MILES of lines are below ground
Buried lines could cost 10 TIMES more per mile.
SOURCE: AUSTIN ENERGY COMMUNITY IMPACT
Austin weighs burying power lines
BY BEN THOMPSON
AUSTIN City Council voted to consider moving more of Austin’s power lines underground in the wake of February’s ice storm and related widespread power outages. Two resolutions approved March 23 ask city sta to weigh moving power lines underground as part of other ongoing city projects and to draft a feasibility study with cost esti- mates for burying more lines in other high-priority areas. The new study does not yet have an estimated cost and will likely take several months.
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SOUTHWEST AUSTIN DRIPPING SPRINGS EDITION • APRIL 2023
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